Monday 18 July 2011

Ups and downs, draws and defeats, comings and goings

The PSG players have been very busy on their pre-season tour of Portugal.

Volleyball, swimming, and, er, rollercoasters have all been on the agenda judging by the photos on the official club site. With some much going on, winning football matches obviously hasn't been a priority, with a 3-1 defeat to Benfica recorded on Friday night followed by a 1-1 draw with Anderlecht on Saturday.

Nene got the only Parisien goal of the Benfica match with this rather delicious chip



While the Anderlecht game saw Kevin Gameiro find the net for the first time in red and blue with a header which was cancelled out in the second half.

There's little point reading too much into pre-season results in my opinion, but nevertheless I'm sure Kombouare will be hoping for a victory when his charges conclude their Iberian jaunt with a match against Brighton tomorrow (Wednesday).

Leonardo meanwhile has topped up his tan sufficiently and is back in Paris, ready to get the commence the les grandes manoeuvres du recrutement. It's difficult to summarise briefly all the players the PSG have been linked with in the last couple of days, but I'll have a go.

The club is reportedly upping it's bid for Ganso to €40million, and expects to complete the long mooted deal for Milan Bisevac this week for a fee in the region of €3.5million. Adel Taarabt is said to be packing his bags in preparation for a move to the capital while a bid of €7-8million could be on the way for Benfica defender Luisao.


I have to confess I know little about the 30-year-old Brazilian, but journalist and all-round European football guru Andy Brassell had some interesting stuff to say about him on Twitter yesterday:


"Insistent link of Luisão & PSG is an interesting one on a number of
levels. Yes, PSG need a dominant CB but a) can Benfica afford to
lose...

"...him so soon after shipping David Luiz & b) how long
will it take him to adjust to Ligue 1's physicality? Might be better off
with Bisevac..."


On their way out, according to Le Parisien, could be a few of the old guard. Jeremy Clement has been linked with a move all summer, and could end up as make-weight in a deal for St Etienne's Blaise Matuidi.

Centre back Zoumana Camara is likely to be off as well, while depending on which website you believe Marco Ceara wants to stay in Paris or has dispatched his agent to find new employers in his native Brazil. More likely to be at the club next season are Peggy Luyindula and Sylvain Armand, both of whom are said to be in Kombouare's plans.

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